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Trapped in Words or Grounded in Truth? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Good morning y'all, it's friendly.
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  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far.
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  Happy Saturday. Today we are going to be
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  continuing right where Jesus left off after the wedding
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  banquet parable from yesterday. We are moving into a stretch of
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  passages where we see he is constantly being tested by the
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  religious leaders. And before I go straight into
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  reading the scripture this morning, I just want to say we
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  have an active enemy. So as I read through this,
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  remember that Satan is not omnipresent like God is.
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  This means he's everywhere all the time.
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  Satan cannot be in all places at once, so he has to get creative.
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  And he uses people and systems and other voices around us to
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  tempt us and distract us. So this passage really gives us
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  a look at how spiritual warfare can show up.
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  It might not be loud and obvious.
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  It might be subtle, but it's strategic and it's a lot of the
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  times dressed up in very flattering words.
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  So we are going to be in Matthew chapter 22 verses 15 through 22
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  today. Then the Pharisees went out and
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  laid plans to trap him in his words.
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  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians
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  teacher. They said, we know that you are
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  a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in
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  accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by others
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  because you pay no attention to who they are.
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  Tell us then, what is your opinion?
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  Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?
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  But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, You hypocrites,
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  why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying
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  the tax. They brought him a denarius and
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  he asked them whose image is this and whose inscription
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  Caesar's? They replied.
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  Then he said to them, so give back to Caesar what is Caesar's,
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  and to God what is God's. When they heard this, they were
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  amazed. So they left him and went away.
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  OK, here's what's happening. We've seen the Pharisees in
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  other passages, but they are a religious group and they're
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  Herodians. They're a political party and
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  usually these two groups were opposed to each other, but we
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  see them team up because they shared a goal to trap Jesus and
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  they asked him about paying taxes to Caesar.
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  It's actually a loaded question because if Jesus on one hand
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  says yes, pay the taxes to Caesar, he risks appearing to
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  deny God as the true king and authority.
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  But on the other hand, if he says no, don't pay the taxes,
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  then he could be arrested by Roman authority and for
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  rebelling against Caesar. So on top of that, the Jewish
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  people, they hate paying these taxes because these taxes, their
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  money, it was going into Caesar's treasury and it was
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  funding the Pagan temples for the gods and goddesses.
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  And seeing this Roman coin always reminded them of
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  ultimately their enslavement to Roman rule and authority.
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  So even the coin itself bore Caesar's image and was just
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  jabbing at them for who ruled over them politically.
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  Now, this was not an innocent question.
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  That's the thing. They had calculated this trap.
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  And in verse 15, it says that they tried to entangle him in
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  his words. Y'all, this has to wake us up.
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  We have to be alert to this because we see all throughout
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  Scripture the power of words and the power of the tongue.
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  It says Proverbs 1821 that the tongue has the power of life and
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  death. So I just want y'all to notice
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  how Jesus is also approached. He's approached with flattery.
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  They're like, hey, we know that you are rooted in truth and a
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  man of integrity, but y'all, that's exactly how the enemy
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  works. Think about it.
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  Do you think that Satan is going to come up to you and in your
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  head be like, hey, by the way, I'm about to trap you, I'm about
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  to deceive you uh uh, he sweet talks his way in.
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  He tries to plant doubt. He makes you question what you
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  already know, what you know is good and true, sometimes through
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  your own thoughts, sometimes through people around you.
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  But Jesus was not caught off guard by all of this.
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  Verse 18 says He perceived their wickedness.
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  He knew their evil intent. Why?
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  Because Jesus lived fully aligned with truth.
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  He didn't just know the truth, guys, He is the truth.
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  He is the way the truth and the life and truth guided every
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  response, every teaching, temptation that He faced, every
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  single moment. And here is the good news for us
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  because as believers, Christ lives in us.
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  We also have the Spirit of truth walking with us.
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  Ephesians 617 says that we get to take on the helmet of
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  salvation in the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
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  God. So God's Word is not just
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  defense, y'all, this is our offense, our offense against the
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  enemy. So I just want to emphasize that
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  learning and memorizing and meditating on Scripture, it
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  matters so much. And I do want to go deeper into
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  just combating the enemy with Scripture and the sword of the
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  Spirit. I want to go more into that in a
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  later episode because it is completely transformed the way
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  that I can recognize deception and lies from the enemy and
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  fight spiritual battles. But I'm going to go into that
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  later. For now, I'm going to continue
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  in talking about just our dual citizenship and ultimate
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  allegiance because Jesus answers in this passage in a way that no
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  one expected. He says give back to Caesar what
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  is Caesar's and to God what is God's.
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  So in first Peter 217 we see where Jesus gets this talking
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  about dual citizenship. It reads show proper respect to
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  everyone, love the family of believers, fear God and honor
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  the emperor. So this highlights we have
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  responsibilities to earthly authorities, y'all We're called
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  to respect and obey. But this also does not mean
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  obeying and contradicting God's word, because our ultimate
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  allegiance belongs to God alone. We are to fear God, so honoring
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  God. It means respecting people
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  because He is the one who appoints the leaders ahead of
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  us. It's all according to His
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  purposes and His perfect plan. It means walking with humility
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  and trusting in His sovereignty. Even if there are leaders that
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  maybe we don't agree with everything they say.
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  We don't compromise our biblical values and standards, but we
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  also submit to their authority in a way to submit to God.
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  So also, I just want to touch on, I think it was so
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  interesting that they're trying to oppose Jesus using money and
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  politics. I feel like that is just so
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  applicable to today because if you think about so many
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  different things that divide the church and the body of Christ,
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  these are two very big ones. And Paul warns us in verse
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  Timothy 610 about money. He says for the love of money is
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  the root of all evil. He's not saying it is evil, but
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  it is the root of all evil because it can blind us and
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  distract us. And so the enemy y'all, like I
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  was talking about earlier, he is constantly trying to take us
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  away from God and divide believers.
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  That's why we have to recognize the areas where Satan wants a
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  foothold. Scripture tells us that we have
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  to pursue peace. We see this in Romans 12/18, and
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  we have to determine not to let the enemy have access.
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  Not through your hearts. Not through voices around you.
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  We have to slam the door shut on his face, pursue truth, submit
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  to God's authority, and choose peace and unity over disharmony
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  and arguing over things that ultimately are pushing us away
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  from uniting as one in Christ. And I want us to also notice the
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  ending. When Jesus answers with this
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  simple truth, they leave. And the enemy, He still does the
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  same today. So when you combat him with what
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  you know to be true from God's Word, he is going to flee.
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  Resist the enemy and He will flee from you as Scripture says.
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  So just a few reflection questions #1 where might the
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  enemy be trying to subtly influence or divide me?
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  Whether that's through thoughts, combos, or outside pressures #2
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  am I actively using God's Word as my offense, or am I only
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  reacting when I feel attacked? And #3 what does it look like
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  for me to honor earthly authority while also keeping my
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  ultimate allegiance fully surrendered to God?
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  So let's move into prayer right now.
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  Dear Lord, thank you for being the God of truth.
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  Lord, we seek you out, and we ask for discernment to recognize
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  the enemy's schemes. We need courage to stand firm in
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  your word. Would you aid us in living with
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  integrity, to walk in wisdom, and to remain rooted in truth
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  when we are tested? Because it's not if we are, but
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  when, and we need your help. God, teach us to pursue peace,
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  to protect unity, especially in the church, and to give you our
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  full allegiance in every aspect of our life.
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  We choose truth today. We choose you.
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  We trust you, we submit to you. We pray this all in your name,
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  God. Amen.
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  OK, well I hope that y'all enjoy this one.
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  I think it was a really important reminder just in our
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  day and age and highlighted a lot of awesome things to me.
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  And I'm just praying for y'all this weekend and I will see
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  y'all on the next episode.